<p>Not that I’m the “dream school” type, but Wharton is really my clear #1 choice for college. Unfortunately, I don’t think that my stats are good enough to get me in (and I’m not fishing for compliments), and am wondering if I should really spend my ED on Wharton and not on the College (where I stand a better chance of getting in). </p>
<p>I’m in the top 8-10% of my class, which is an all-honours program. I take the hardest courses possible, and will have completed Cal I+II and Linear Algebra (near the top of the class in all three) by the time I matriculate (if I am accepted)–just mentioning that since I know that Wharton likes students with strong math backgrounds. Meanwhile, my SAT is slightly higher than the Penn average (730v, 690m) when I took it 2.5 years ago, and from the practice tests and tutoring I’ve been doing recently, I should score between 2150-2300 on the new SAT…as for SAT IIs, I should score about 730+ on Literature and 700+ on Math IIc.</p>
<p>As for the more marginal stuff, I have an 89% average (I’m Canadian, so an 89% in Canada is worth about a 3.8 UW in American terms), albeit with a very nice upward trend for the last three years. My ECs are nothing spectacular (a few solid 3-year commitments and a few leadership positions in school organizations), although they are not that bad by Canadian standards.</p>
<p>My essays and recommendations should truly be stellar–I am a good essay writer (I got into UChicago last year, but turned it down to finish my Canadian program) and I have an excellent repore with my teachers (not to mention good grades with those writing the recs).</p>
<p>To put things in perspective, Penn supposedly has a good relationship with my school and last year, someone with slightly better credentials than me was accepted RD (no rejects as far as I know).</p>
<p>I know this has been a long post and a somewhat disorganized one (I’m tired), but I’d like to know whether it’s really worth it to take a shot at Wharton or whether I should apply to the College and major in Econ/Math. Thanks.</p>
<p>Honestly, with everyone having almost the same numbers applying to Wharton, your lack of breath-taking ECs will probably not gain you admission. Maybe you should apply to the college, but keep in mind that the admissions comittee has said in the past that they can spot students who are looking for a back door into Wharton.</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, what are your ECs? Maybe they're not as bad as you think.</p>
<p>Newspaper editor, 3 yrs., literary journal editor, 3 yrs., quiz team captain, 2 yrs., Battle of the Bands organizer (actually a record success when I was co-organizer), 2 yrs., play guitar and bass in a band, 4 yrs., peer tutor, part-time job. One or two freelance articles for major city newspaper.</p>
<p>Solid, but nothing close to special.</p>
<p>And I'm not looking for a "backdoor" into Wharton...I'd be perfectly happy at plain ol' Penn majoring in Econ/Math, which seem more interesting to me than 4 yrs. of finance (after all, don't they condense that into a 6-week training session at i-banks?).</p>
<p>I think your EC's are much better than you think.</p>
<p>You should apply directly to Wharton if Wharton is what you really want. You say it is your clear #1 choice but then you say that Econ and Math seem more interesting. You don't do 4 years of Finance at Wharton anyway, even if you concentrate in Finance.</p>
<p>It sounds like you don't really know what Wharton is all about. Maybe you should do more in-depth research.</p>
<p>whartonalum, I was sort of exaggerating the Wharton curriculum...I was just making the point that I like learning theoretical matters more than practical ones. I'm well aware that Wharton is not a straight four years of finance-immersion.</p>
<p>My r-score is 33, though I actually have my highest class r-scores in the more difficult courses. It would be a 33.5-34 if it weren't for one class in which everyone did well (thus making it hard to be well above the average/distribution).</p>
<p>If you are more interested in theory than practice, you should apply to liberal arts programs in Economics rather than to Wharton. There is a really big difference between the two curriculums.</p>
<p>If you are international, being able to pay is a huge factor. On average, Penn still expects international students to contribute around $20,000 (USD) EACH year.</p>
<p>Sadly, this will be a huge factor, independent of your stats/scores.</p>
<p>I can afford to pay full tuition. Hopefully that will give me an advantage over other intls, if what you say is true.</p>
<p>And whartonalum, I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of satisfaction with my courses(as finance is still immensely interesting to me) in order to get the career advantage that Wharton provides. After all, with judicious employment of electives, I'd be able to fulfill all my study goals of math, econ and finance.</p>
<p>What is it about my chances posts that makes nobody want to answer? Christ, when a valedictorian with a 4.0 and 2400 asks his/her chances, they get 1000 replies, but when I'm asking to see if my borderline stats are worth applying with, I get nothing.</p>
<p>you are unsure which leads me to believe you may be better off applyin to the college, hoping u get in and if you still get there and find you crave wharton work hard and try to transfer</p>